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' (Nn'ModL) I W. ?L KELLY. CIRCULAR K NITTINC MACHINE.

No. 414,863. Patented Nov.; 12, 1889.

N. paens. mmumugmpw. wmingm uc UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

VILLIAM HENRY KELLY, OF BRANDON, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN JENCKES, OF NA-Y ATT POINT, RHODE ISLAND.

CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters Patent No. 414,863, dated November 12, 1889.

Applicationfiled September 7, 1888. Serial No. 284,801. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM HENRY KELLY, of Brandon, county of Rutland, State of Vermont, have invented an 'Improvement in Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has forits object to improve and simplify knitting-machines of the class described in United States Patent No. 372,374, granted to me November 1,1887. The machine described in the said patent is adapted to automatically lift one needle after another at the ends of the series of needles which are employed in narrowing to make the iirst half of a heel or toe for a stocking, and to also automatically bring down one of said needles after another from the ends of the said series of needles as the fabric or web is gradually widened. to produce the complementary part of the heel or toe. In the said machine when widening was to be done the operator had to fix the tumblers in place by set-screws and loosen the switch-plates from the holding action of screws, and when narrowing was to be done theV operator had to reversel this operation-viz.,fhad to fix each switch-plate by a screw and loosen each tumbler from its holding-screw. The operation of controlling each tumbler and switch-plate independently of the others required considerable time.

The object of my present invention is to provide a more compact construction of parts and improved means for throwing the tumblers and switch-plates into and out of operation. l

My invention consists, essentially, in a camcylinder, its drawing-down cams, tumblers adapted to automatically lift the needles singly, and pivoted switch-plates combined with longitudinally-movable slides carrying the said switch-plates, and cam projections co-operating therewith to depress or turn the switch-plates automatically on or with rela-' tion to the said slides, as will be described; also a compound cylinder consisting, essentially, of an interior cylinder and a surrounding cylindrical jacket having an internal groove and segmental slides, and segmental blocks movable in the said grooves and accessible from outside the said jacket combined with tu mblers and with pivoted switchplates and cams or projections co-operating therewith, substantially as will be described.

Other features of my invention will be described in the specification and in the claims at the end thereof.

Figure l is an inner side View laid out straight of a cam-cylinder and its attached parts embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan View of the cam-cylinder. Fig. 3 is a partial section in the line x, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a partial section in the line x. Fig. 5 is a detail showing the cams in a different position from that represented in Fig. l. Fig. 6 is an outside elevation of the cylinder. Fig. 7 shows the segmental slide separately. Fig. 8 shows one of the switch-plates separately. Fig. 9 shows one of the blocks separately. Fig. 10 shows one of the tumblers, and Fig. 11 a needle such as used in my machine.

The cylinder herein shown is a compound one, it being composed of a jacket, as C2, within which is placed a cylinder C, having at its inner side a ledge or shoulder D, 011 which ride and rest the butts of the needles D', (see Fig. 11,) used for knitting when in their regular position and not opposite thecalns. The interior of the cylinder C is cut out to receive the usual lower cam-plates A B A2,

` 10, which tumblers of like shape are pivoted at opposite sides of and just below the center of the said plate J, as in Fig. l, each tumbler IOO of the cylinder C has screwed or attached to itV at each side of the said tumblers two cam projections, as a a', forming upper cam-plates which are considerably inclined, very much more so than the upper cam -plates represented in my said patent, the said projections a a. being set at a greater inclination to thereby enable the switch-plates e e', employed to pull the needles down singly when narrow-` ing, to be located lower down in the machine and with their pivotal points more nearly in the line of the pivots of the tumblers K K2, thus gaining greater compactness of parts and having easier operation of the needles. The projections ci a', referred to, at their under sides and at their ends next the said tumblers, are so shaped, substantially as shown in the drawings, as to permit the lips 2 of the tumblers to be placed just above the downturned points 3 of the said cam proj ections, when the tumblers are turned up out of operation and held against the projection J, as shown in Fig. 1,wl1en ordinary knitting and widening is being done.

The jacket C2 is provided at its inner wall with an annular groove 4, and the inner cylinder C, containing the usual cams and toothed ring GX, is secured to it by screws 5 or otherwise, the said groove being cut entirely through the exterior of the jacket at four points, there being two slots, as l), and two, as b', at each side of the projection J, the drawings showing but two of the said slots, as they are just alike. The groove 4, referred to, at each side the projection J and beyond the blocks 13, serves to receive in it like segmental slides f, having hollow hubs (see section, Fig 3) which extend through the like slot-s Z1', the said hubs receiving loosely the studs G of the like switch-plates e e', the said studs outside the jacket having each applied to them a thu1nb-nut, as 1G, which is used to hold in place or confine to the said' studs the free end of a spring, as e2, extended through a hole in the shank of the stud G, (see Fig. 6,) the other end ofthe said spring being fixed by a suitable screw, as 8, to thejacket C2, the normal tendency of the spring ezbeing to not only keep the pin l0 projected from one side of the switch-plate (see Fig. S) pressed up against the under side of the cam projection or plate 7L h above it, but also to keep the segmental slide carrying the switch pressed toward the knitting-point or toward the tumblers. As herein shown, the outer threaded end of each stud 6 is split. The cylinder C at its inner side has two like pushing-down cams, asg g', each located just back of one of the said switches, as fully shown in Fig. 1.

\Vl1en tubular knitting is being done, all

the needles are down and the tumblers K K2 are held up next the triangular block J by the action against the pins 12 of the said tulnblers of 011e end of the segmental blocks 13, referred to, the block at such times being fixed in position. When a heel or toe is to be knitted, those needles which are not to be employed in the production of the heel are raised by hand in usual manner, all the needles which are to be used in the widest course of the heel being left down. In this condition the segmental blocks 13 are loosened and moved in the groove 4 toward the segmental slides f, carrying the switch-plates c e', and

the said blocks are made to act against the said slides and push them and the switchplates back until the said switch-plates, by the action of the pins 10 against the under sides of the projections h or 7L', are lowered sutciently to pass under the butts of the raised needles, and in this condition the said blocks are fastened by the thumb-nuts 15. The cylinderbeing now reciprocated in usual manner from right to left, the butts 20 of the endmost needles of the series of needles left down for narrowing arrive one after the other in successive reciprocations of the cam-cylinder against the tumblers K or K2, according to the direction of movement of the cylinder, and, meeting the said tumblers above their lips 2, are pushed against by the said tumblers in such manner that the tumblers are turned upon their pivots, and in so doing each tumbler acts to lift with it the needle, thebutt of which bears against the tumbler, thus lifting the said needles one at a time up out of the range of the knitting-cams, leaving the said needles lifted until they are again to be lowered automatically in widening, as will be described, by the switcl1-plates e e. The tumbler lifted by the lirst needle of the series of needles employed in the heel'or toe remains up,while the butts of all the needles being used for narrowing pass under them, one needle at a time being lifted, as described, from the leading end of the series of needles during each reciprocation of the cam-cylinder until the narrowest course for the heel or toe has been knitted, immediately after which and preparatory to widening to produce the second half of a heel or toe the segmental blocks 13 are again loosened and moved to place the tumblers described against the block J, permitting the segmental slides fto approach the tumblers far enough to enable the points of the switch-plates to extend up far enough to engage the butts of those needles which have been elevated, as described, in narrowing, the point of one of the said switchplates striking in succession the butt of the leading needle in the direction of the rotation of the cylinder ot' the series of needles elevated, as described. During the operation of widening the segmental slides carrying the switch-plates are free to be slid in the groove 4 away from the tumbler next to it and against the action of the spring e2. The

IIO

butt of the leading needlefof the series of elevated needles at veach reciprocation.

of the cam-cylinder strikes the upturned end of a ,switch-plate, and the switch-plate is thereby temporarily arrested, so that in the further-movement of the-cylinder the segmental slide is made to travel back in the groove 4 opposite the direction of rotation of Y the cylinder, such movement by the action of the projection ofthe switch-plate againstv the cam-plate or projection hh above it causing the front end of the switch-plate in engagement with the butt of the endmostneedle to turn down, taking with it the said needle, so that the butt of the latter needle passes under the switch-plate and under the drawingdown cam g or gf behind it, the butts of all the elevated needles except the one so engaged by the switch-plate passing above the switch-plate and the drawing-down cam g or g behind it. The projections h h do not lie immediately above the switch-plates or in theV same vertical plane, so the said projections do notact against the butts of and pullldown the needles. As described, the elevated needles used in narrowing are 'gradually brought down for widening, and the widest course of the heel or toe having been completed after the commencement of the widening all the needles previously thrown up out of operation and not used in narrowing and Widening are thrown down in any usual manner. The switch-cams E E2 act in connection with the needles in the usual manner for knitting.

I claim- 1. The cam-cylinder, the cams g g', and the pivoted switch-plates and their co-operating springs, combined with the longitudinallymovable slides carrying the said switch-plates and cam projectionsco-operating therewith 4o to depress or turn the' switch-platesautomatically on or with relation to the vsaid slides, substantially as described.

2.. The compoundcylinder consisting, essentially, of the cylinder C and the jacket C2 45 slotted at b b', and having an internal groove 4, the cams E E2, and the segmental slides and segmental blocks placed in the said grooves, and having lShanks or projections accessible for their movement in the said 5o groove from outside the said jacket combined with the tumblers, the pivoted switch-plates,

- a a', the said segmental blocks when moved to permit the tumblers to drop for widening also pushing back the segmental slides to depress the points of the switch-plates and the projections hh', substantially as described.

`In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY KELLY.

Witnesses:

GEORGE ALVIN CRossMAN, ARTHUR WILBUR STICKNEY. 

